So, a big-name actor finally fell victim to one of the airline’s large-passenger policies. He took to Twitter (and his approximately 1.7 million followers) to whine about it and then it became a nationalnewsstory.
I’ll leave the PR or social CRM commentary to my alter ego. What I want to do here is put myself in that all-too-crowded airplane seat. I have yet to experience the humiliation that would come with being kicked off a flight for being too fat for the seat. But I’m sure I will at some point. I currently have a 54″ waist. Even when I was at my skinniest I’ve been since high school, I was a 44″ waist.
According to an article on The Independent Traveler, “the standard airline seat is 17.2″ wide, while seat pitch ranges from 28″ on some short-haul, down-and-dirty charters, to 33-34″ on some planes.” You can do the math on how well I fit into the seats on most airlines.
I require a seat-belt expander (or as I call it, the “fat guy tool) and because of that, the FAA says I can’t sit in the exit row, creating an even more unpleasant experience.
So, how will I handle this situation should it ever arise? I’ll definitely be upset by it. I will plead my case in an attempt to save grace and remain on the flight. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to be paraded down the aisle way and the jetway after being informed you’re too fat to fly. For me, I know I can control this experience. I can lose the weight and avoid this trouble. But some people can’t.
This is just a reminder that air travel is still a privilege. Not everybody gets to. And that includes the big in all of us.
Being a big dude isn’t all bad. I can reach a lot of stuff for example. I would be a good hire for a grocery store. Just wander around and grab stuff off the top shelves for people.
In my last post, I kind of set this up as a negative, look at me I’m a fat dude blog. But really, it’s actually kind of fun. Like, watching a football game and being bigger than every player on the field. Or knowing that I wear a bigger shoe size than Kobe Bryant. Stuff like that…
Making the best of it
I talk to my wife all the time about how we can’t go on roller coasters or skydiving and stuff. But there’s plenty to my life that I can do. I have custom-fit fins and my SCUBA certification. I have custom-fit golf clubs but I really, really suck at golf. I drive a big truck and can explore the mountains with the best of ‘em.
So, I make the best of it. Tell me a bit about what you make the best of. We’re all different here, that’s what makes this fun.
What are The Big Files? Why am I the person to tell these stories? More importantly, why should you read them?
All good questions. But first I want to tell you a story. Growing up, I was always the big kid. My clothes never fit because I tried to wear what was stylish (anybody remember Hypercolor?) but a lot of the stuff didn’t come in “husky.” So, I had to wear what fits. This meant I wore dolphin shorts long after they were stylish. I had alligator shirts, but they made spandex jealous.
And that’s still my style to this day. I wear what fits. Especially if it’s on sale. So, why does this matter?
Image is nothing
Who I am as a man, as a husband and eventually as a father is not defined by the clothes I wear or how I look. But one of the things that does define me is my size. Growing up “big” and living that life leads me to be a different person than if I were 5′10″ and 185 lbs.
I have a stigma of being a disgusting slob who oozes into the next seat on an airplane. I have a stigma of being a football/basketball player or professional wrestler (disclosure: I played high school football). I have the stigma of being a mean giant. But that’s simply not who I am.
I like to smile and have fun. I try to hunt, fish, hike, scuba dive and be active. But my life is different. My size dictates some things I can and can’t do as I am limited to weight limits and equipment fitting. But that’s OK. My size is who I am. I am a Big Man and that is who I am. And these are my stories.